Category: North Korea

North Korea has increased its production of enriched uranium for nuclear weapons at secret sites in recent months, contrary to Donald Trump’s claims that it was “no longer a nuclear threat”, according to a new report.

NBC News quoted more than a dozen US officials familiar with the intelligence assessments.… Be Informed

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo will visit North Korea next week in a bid to press forward with the Trump administration’s efforts to secure the country’s denuclearisation, according to four people familiar with his plans.

The visit will be the first senior level face-to-face contact since US president Donald Trump met leader Kim Jong Un in an unprecedented summit earlier this month.… Be Informed

Euronews: Two hundred family members separated by the decades-long Korean War will take part in emotional reunions next month, South Korea said Friday — the latest breakthrough in North Korea’s diplomatic thaw.

The families will be briefly reunited August 20-26 at a resort in Mount Kumgang, or “Diamond Mountain,” in North Korea, the South’s Unification Ministry announced after talks.… Be Informed

The Guardian: Donald Trump has declared that North Korea still poses an “extraordinary threat” to the United States, just days after saying that the country’s nuclear program no longer constituted a danger.

In an executive order on Friday, the president extended for one year the so-called “national emergency” with respect to the nuclear-armed nation, re-authorizing economic restrictions against it.

CNN: Images of hundreds of North Koreans jubilantly clapping and waving flags as Kim Jong Un landed in Pyongyang Wednesday have been broadcast across the reclusive country as part of a lengthy state media documentary about his historic summit with US President Donald Trump.… Be Informed

AP: America and the world can “sleep well tonight,” President Donald Trump declared on Wednesday, boasting that his summit with Kim Jong Un had ended any nuclear threat from North Korea though the meeting produced no details on how or when weapons might be eliminated or even reduced.… Be Informed

The Summit between American President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un was an anticipated event, although one that was met by scepticism by some of those in the foreign policy community.

Matthew Bugeja who through Bugeja Geo Political Consulting, heads the GeoPolitical advisory arm of Diplomatique.Expert gives his insight and perspectives on the summit.… Be Informed

Delegations from the US and North Korea met four times last week at the Capella Hotel to hash out the logistics of the summit, with setting an appropriate venue for the summit at the top of the agenda.

Donald Trump’s summit with Kim Jong-un on 12 June is back on, the US president says, a week after it was scrapped.

Earlier a senior North Korean official met U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the White House to hand him a letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as the two countries try to put a derailed summit back on track.… Be Informed

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and high-ranking North Korean official Kim Yong Chol enter a second day of meetings in New York on Thursday as they try to settle nuclear weapons disagreements and set the stage for an historic summit between their two leaders.… Be Informed

Donald Trump tweeted “Our United States team has arrived in North Korea to make arrangements for the Summit between Kim Jong Un and myself. I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day.… Be Informed

South Korean President Moon Jae-In said that the North Korean President Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his commitment to ‘complete’ the denuclearisation process in the Korean peninsula. He is also committed towards a planned meeting with US President Donald Trump.

A surprise summit between the leaders of the two Koreas took place on Saturday.… Be Informed

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that it was possible a planned summit with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un could still take place on June 12 as originally planned, just a day after he canceled the meeting citing Pyongyang’s “tremendous anger and open hostility.”

The President said lines of communication had opened between the two countries after officials said Thursday that the North Koreans had become unresponsive, leading to the planned summit’s cancellation.… Be Informed

The BBC and CNN amongst others, reported that the planned summit between US President Donald Trump North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will not happen.

Claiming that it would be inappropriate to have it happen at this time, Trump confirmed the summit, which had been scheduled to take place in Singapore on 12 June, would not now take place.… Be Informed

US President Donald Trump has said there is a “very substantial chance” a historic summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un next month may not happen. Trump said that the North must meet conditions for the summit to go ahead though if it did not, it might happen “later”.… Be Informed

South Korean President Moon’s meeting with US counterpart Trump at the White House on Tuesday is going to be a crucial test of whether the two presidents will make history or see their plans fizzle out.

The two are slated to hold a 30-minute one-on-one meeting with only their translators, followed by a nearly 90-minute expanded meeting with additional staffers, according to an administration official.… Be Informed

CNN reports that the US Administration aides have started to show scepticism that the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will come to fruition. The harsh rhetoric from Pyongyang and the formulation of the meeting’s agenda, have caused apprehension for officials and other people familiar with the matter said.